mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

Hard to say how this was determined, but they apparently didn't look at coaches who find "under the radar" talent. If they did, Chris Peterson would surely be high up there, maybe even #1. Just look at how many guys BSU has sent to the NFL recently - guys that most other schools didn't want.

Yeah, he had to "coach 'em up", I get that. But that cannot by itself get guys to the NFL; the measureables have to be there.

Writer simply looked at the top classes and added a little personal commentary. He doesn't even state criteria for the rankings.

He missed the guys who have "sold" their program despite big hurdles - Kiffin with NCAA infractions and no job security, Sarkisian in remote NW with little recent success, Franklin with a conservative school crushed by SEC heavyweights, O'Brien with no bowl games.

Until someone surveys kids and HS coaches to generate data, the topic is 50% ratings and 50% opinion.

I agree with your main point about the list not being very well conceived. But I live in Seattle and have been following UW football for the past eight years or so, and would hardly consider Sarkisian an elite recruiter. He's done okay, and is a putting together a particularly good class this year (which includes players M targeted like Joe Mathis and Demore'ea Stringfellow). But overall his classes have been pretty mediocre. Last year he got Shaq Thompson and not much else; he didn't get either of the very highly rated local OL prospects (Zack Banner and Josh Garnett) in 2012, or either of the two top-rated local QBs in 2012 (Jake Heaps) or 2013 (Max Browne).

Sarkisian's other big recruiting year was 2010, when he had 32 recruits; there wasn't much quality beyond a couple headliners (Sean Parker, Eric Kohler), but that was understandable because Willingham had gone 0-12 and left the team so depleted that they really needed bodies. It also doesn't help Sark that both Oregon schools, Stanford, and even Boise State are now major competitiors for NW talent.

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

What is interesting, if you go back to 2011 in the Rivals class rankings and compare to the top five coaches listed here (as much as possible - Meyer wasn't around in 2011, of course), is that Michigan is the only school that has shown continuous improvement (#21 to #7 to #6 per their site) in the overall class rankings. Alabama had a slight decrease in ranking this year from #1 to #3 and Clemson's classes have steadily fallen in the rankings over the same period as well.

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

given the fact he has the personality of a cactus. I guess when he waves his hand in front of recruits with a NC ring on every finger, a lot of them grab for the nearest pen to sign up. Seriously, he must have good assistant coaches who actually have nice personalities or something.

"You owe it to every man, woman, and child in the State of Michigan to beat the Buckeyes and silence their fans! Now go out there and make it happen!"

Saban and his witchcraft are far and above everyone else. Meyer is probably spot on as well. I think Hoke sits anywhere from 3rd through 5th and to be honest, it's looking like it may be a dog fight between Meyer and Hoke for the Big Ten (recruiting).

Saban and his witchcraft are far and above everyone else. Meyer is probably spot on as well. I think Hoke sits anywhere from 3rd through 5th and to be honest, it's looking like it may be a dog fight between Meyer and Hoke for the Big Ten (recruiting).